Alma Books The Story of a Nobody Чехов Антон Павлович

When Cyril, Anthea, Robert and Jane find the Psammead, a magical sand fairy, in a pet shop in London, they have no idea that they are about to embark on their greatest adventure yet. The Psammead leads them to an Egyptian amulet that has the power to grant whatever their hearts desire. The problem is that the amulet is broken, and the other half – needed if their wishes are to be granted – is lost. Yet with their half of the amulet able to transport them through time, the children set out on a search for the missing half, and the realization of their wildest dreams… • From an encounter with Julius Caesar to a visit of the lost city of Atlantis, The Story of the Amulet – the final instalment in the Psammead Trilogy – is an unforgettable tale of magic and time travel that has been loved by children and parents alike for more than a century

In Dandelion Land, a young snail can't stop asking his friends awkward questions, such as: why are we so slow - and why can't we all have our own names? When he is finally banished from the snail community because of this, he is forced to travel the world alone. As he explores in his oh-so-slow way, the snail makes new friends and goes on a series of adventures, gaining wisdom from every new encounter. But when he finds out his friends are in danger, he decides to rush home to warn them. Will he get there in time to save them? • Luis Sepulveda's bestselling The Story of a Snail Who Discovered the Importance of Being Slow is a wonderful ode to diversity and unity, celebrating the importance of being slow in a world obsessed with speed

Caught up in an oil spill, a dying seagull scrambles ashore to lay her final egg and lands on a balcony, where she meets Zorba, a big black cat from the port of Hamburg. The cat promises the seagull to look after the egg, not to eat the chick once it’s hatched and – most difficult of all – to teach the baby gull to fly. Will Zorba and his feline friends honour the promise and give Lucky, the adopted little seagull, the strength to discover her true nature? • A moving, uplifting and life-enhancing story with a strong environmental theme, Luis Sepulveda’s instant children’s classic has been a worldwide best-seller and is presented here with new drawings by acclaimed illustrator Satoshi Kitamura

"After a while, with the parrot's help, the Doctor got to learn the language of the animals so well that he could talk to them himself and understand everything they said" • John Dolittle is a highly respected doctor in the village of Puddleby on the Marsh, yet he loves animals so much that his house is soon full of them. With all his patients scared away, and the expense of feeding his menagerie mounting, a friend suggests that the Doctor become a vet instead • With the help of Polynesia the parrot, Doctor Dolittle swiftly learns the language of the animals so that he can talk to all of his new patients. However, when a message comes from Africa, telling of a terrible sickness among the monkeys there, the Doctor and his animal friends depart on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that they are never likely to forget

Dora, Oswald, Dicky, Alice, Noel and Horace Octavius ("H.O.") Bastable are desperate to help their widowed father to restore the family's fortunes after his business fails • Their moneymaking schemes, from digging for treasure in their South-London garden to becoming highwaymen on Blackheath, mainly lead to a good deal of trouble, until one adventure promises to change everything… • Beautifully illustrated by Peter Bailey, this edition contains extra material for young readers including a section on 'Other Famous Stories about Siblings', a test yourself quiz and a glossary

The story of a naughty wooden puppet who has a penchant for lying and dreams of becoming a real boy, The Adventures of Pinocchio has entered our collective imagination and fascinated generations of young and adult readers since its first publication in 1883. Part fable, part coming-of-age novel, part cautionary tale, Pinocchio’s rollicking exploits through an unforgiving and often incomprehensible world – populated by unforgettable characters such as the Talking Cricket, Candlewick, Mangiafuoco and the Fairy with Turquoise Hair – have had a profound impact on our culture and attained universal significance as a mirror of the human condition • Here presented in a brand-new and lively translation by Stephen Parkin and illustrated beautifully by Peter Bailey, this edition of The Adventures of Pinocchio brings extra sparkle to one of the greatest and most celebrated works of children’s literature

Written in the form of a diary, The House of the Dead recounts the story of Alexander Goryanchikov, a gentleman who is condemned to ten years hard labour for killing his wife in a fi t of rage. Initially the target of the other inmates malice, he gradually settles in and becomes an avid observer of the new world around him - watching his fellow prisoners being brutally and cruelly punished by the guards, listening to their past stories of blood and murder and learning that even convicts are capable of acts of pure generosity, as when they sacrifice their own meal to feed a stray dog that wanders around the camp. Based on Dostoevsky's own autobiographical experiences during a four year internment in a prison colony in Siberia, this genre-defying novel is not only an unflinching expose of the conditions of Russian prisoners during the Tsarist period, but also a call to see the human side in criminals and rediscover the values of forgiveness and brotherly love

Presented through an ingeniously overlapping and intertwining series of letters written by six very different characters, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker is the story of Squire Matthew Bramble and his family's journey across England and Scotland. From the gouty hypochondriac squire eager to take the waters in various spa towns to his malapropistic sister Tabitha, who is keenly looking for a husband, the characters recount their own experiences, desires and particular version of events, and in doing so introduce the reader to the extraordinary exploits of the ostler Humphry Clinker • Full of decadence, drunkenness and debauchery, and littered with double entendres, bawdy puns and scatological references, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, published only a few months before Smollett's death, is a biting and sharply observed satire of the luxury and licentiousness of eighteenth-century society

Гекльберри Финн и его компаньон, беглый раб по имени Джим, плывут вниз по реке Миссисипи на плоте. Гекльберри сбежал от пьющего отца, а Джим – от хозяев. На своём пути они встречают плавучий дом, скандалящие семьи и коварных мошенников. Но что куда важнее – путешествие учит Гекльберри воспринимать Джима как друга, как равного, и освобождает его от расовых предрассудков, свойственных людям той эпохи • «Приключения Гекльберри Финна», роман одного из классиков американской литературы Марка Твена, затрагивает темы взросления и поисков свободы, и станет замечательным подарком для детей • Книга на английском языке • Widely considered one of the greatest American novels, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn tells the story of Huck Finn and his companion, the slave Jim, as they journey down the Mississippi river after running away from Huck’s alcoholic father and Jim’s owners

The intelligent and charming Newland Archer – a member of one of New York’s most prominent families – is living the life that has always been expected of him: he is engaged to the beautiful and well-connected May Welland and understands the rarefied world of Fifth Avenue society inside out. However, with the arrival of May’s cousin, the free-spirited and unconventional Countess Ellen Olenska, Newland begins to doubt all that once seemed so natural to him • An extraordinarily well-observed dissection of New York high society in the 1870s – the world in which Edith Wharton grew up – The Age of Innocence shines a critical light on the social mores and values of the old order

The judge Ivan Ilyich Golovin has spent his life in the pursuit of wealth and status, devoting himself obsessively to work and often neglecting his family in the process. When, after a small accident, he fails to make the expected recovery, it gradually becomes clear that he is soon to die. Ivan Ilyich then starts to question the futility and barrenness of his previous existence, realizing to his horror, as he grapples with the meaning of life and death, that he is totally alone • Included in this volume is another celebrated novella by Tolstoy, The Devil, which addresses the conflicts between desire, social norms and personal conscience, providing at the same time a further exploration of human fear and obsession

Pipi isn’t like his four brothers or the other young monkeys living in the forest of Hullabaloo: he has bright-pink fur, a mischievous character and a rebellious streak that lands him into all sorts of scrapes. In this story, an expanded version of Collodi’s original tale, we see him lose his tail to an ancient crocodile, end up as a valet to a young master, fall into the hands of flying bandits and become emperor of a tribe of apes • Collodi wrote this story immediately after Pinocchio, and the little monkey’s adventures present clear similarities, both in terms of themes and characters, with his more celebrated masterpiece. This rediscovered gem of Italian literature, beautifully illustrated by Axel Scheffler and preserving all of Collodi’s trademark wit and linguistic crispness, will delight and enthral a new generation of children